Data center

ABSTRACT

This application relates to improvements to data centers, including protection from: (1) vandalism, (2) high winds, (3) earthquake, (4) storms, (5) water used for cooling or fire suppression, and (6) explosions emanating from inside or outside of the building.

This application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/458,044, filed on Mar. 28, 2003,hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application relates to improvements to data centers, includingprotection from: (1) vandalism, (2) high winds, (3) earthquake, (4)storms, (5) water or gas used for cooling or fire suppression, and (6)explosions emanating from inside or outside of the building.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A data center is a facility designed to house computer equipment(servers, routers, etc.) The computer equipment is used to store data,receive data from other computers and send data to other computerslocated inside and outside of the facility. The data is transmittedthrough copper and fiber optic transmission lines. In order for the datacenter to have a high level of reliability, all aspects of the design ofthe data center are important.

The physical security includes protection for: (1) electrical,mechanical, and computer equipment, (2) the power distribution system,(3) the copper and fiber optic distribution system, and (4) pipes andducts for the mechanical system.

The security system should provide protection from: (1) vandalism, (2)high winds, (3) earthquake, (4) storms, (5) water used for cooling orfire suppression, and (6) explosions emanating from inside or outside ofthe building.

The reliability of the design is enhanced by redundancy so that if thereis an equipment failure, another piece of equipment will functionwithout delay to replace it. The reliability of the data center is alsoimproved by the compartmentalization of the design so that if there isan equipment failure, the impact of the failure is limited in scope.Reliability is also improved by having a design which makes a fastrecovery possible, such as a design which makes the quick and easyreplacement of the equipment (or a part within the equipment) possible.

The reliability of the design is also enhanced by having a design whichattempts to eliminate a shut down because of a single point of failure.However, if there is a single point of failure, it is important that thecomponent causing the failure is (1) very unlikely to fail, (2) thecomponent can be replaced quickly if it does fail, and (3) the impact ofsuch a failure is limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The design of the present invention incorporates the aspects describedabove (physical security, redundancy, compartmentalization, fastrecovery, and the elimination of the “single point of failure”) in aneffort to achieve the highest level of reliability.

The following discussion of the mechanical system, the powerdistribution system, and the fiber optic distribution system arepreferably in a building where the roof and outer walls are protected towithstand the impact of high winds or a blast from an explosive.However, there are aspects to the design which would be advantageous tobuildings without such protection. For example, the mechanical systemrequires less floor space.

In the description of the design that follows it is assumed that thereare one or more corridors with rooms on both sides of the corridor. (Thedesign also applies if there are rooms on only one side of the corridoror if computer racks are located in a single large room.)

Racks which hold computer servers are placed in the plurality of rooms.It is necessary to supply these rooms with the following:

-   -   (1) Cooling to offset the heat generated by the servers and        other electronic equipment.    -   (2) Electrical power to the electronic equipment.    -   (3) Fiber optic and copper lines to the equipment for the        transmission of data.    -   (4) Humidity control to the room to control static electricity.    -   (5) Fire suppression system which may include INNERGIN™        breathable gas fire suppression system.

These and other objects of the invention, as well as many of theintended advantages thereof, will become more readily apparent whenreference is made to the following description taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B show the design of a corridor space for mechanicalequipment, distribution of chilled water to mechanical equipment,location of electric cable which supplies power to the powerdistribution units (PDUs) which are connected to servers, and fiberoptic lines which are connected to the servers located in the rooms.

FIG. 1C is an alternate design of a distribution system, similar to FIG.1A.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of air handling units (AHU) in the corridor andthe ducts which supply the rooms on each side of the corridor.

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B show a plan view and vertical section of an AHU.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a vertical section and a plan view, respectively,of a six foot wide and eight foot high (or higher) central corridor andlateral room enclosures.

FIG. 5 shows a plan view of AHUs assigned to four different roomconfigurations.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a piping diagram with a third pipe provided formaintenance or replacement of either-one of the other two pipes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In describing a preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in thedrawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake ofclarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to thespecific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that eachspecific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in asimilar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.

A space 12 (FIG. 1A) is located above the corridor 1 between the foilcoiling unit (FCU) or Air Handling Unit (AHU) 8A having a coil 80, a fan82 and filter 84 (as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B). Between the walls 3A, 3Bis a ceiling tile and grid system 11 of the corridor sufficient toprovide the required return air to the AHU in space 12.

A plurality of individual FCUs could be replaced by a large FCU locatedat ground floor level which would blow cool air into a ducted system 73going down the space where AHU 8A is located between walls 3A, 3B,ceiling roof 12 and tile and grid system 11.

Below the raised floor 13 of the corridor 1 there is a space 15, FIG.1A, through which pipes can be located and connected to the risers inthe walls or to a pipe connected to an AHU located on a raised floor orconcrete deck (see FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B). Also, connecting pipes extendfrom the chilled water supply pipe 16 and chilled water return pipe 18,FIGS. 1A and 1B.

In the alternative the fiber optic trays 61A, 61B and cylinders for thefire suppression system 51A and 51B can be located above the mezzaninedeck 12 on both sides of the corridor 1 as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1C. InFIG. 1B pipes cross the corridor 1 and are connected to risers which arelocated in corridor walls 3A and 3B. FIG. 1A also includes a condensateopening 55 from a pipe extending down a wall for the AHU.

FIG. 1B shows the staggered connections 19 from the chilled water return(CWR) pipe 16 to the riser 3A and from the chilled water supply pipe 18to the riser 3A. FIG. 1B also shows fiber optic line 21 from the conduitextending to the conduit box 23A passing through the conduit to theriser 24 and into adjacent room 5. This fiber optic line extends intoadjacent room 5 from the risers in the wall. The fiber optic line 23C,FIG. 1B, is for the room 4 across the corridor from room 5. Cylinder51B, FIG. 1B, is for fire suppression for room 4.

FIG. 1A shows a roof structure 12 which spans the corridor and the rooms4 and 5 on both sides of the corridor 1. The space above the roofstructure 12 and below building roof 90 is referred to as the mezzaninedeck and above the mezzanine deck is the main roof 90 of the building.There is limited access to the mezzanine deck. Motion detectors andclosed circuit television monitors provide continuous surveillance. Themezzanine deck also serves as a secondary roof to protect against roofleakage from the primary roof 90. Roof structure slope 12 is a 1) blastprotection, 2) secondary rain protection and 3) covering for fiber andelectrical distribution cylinders.

The corridor walls 3A and 3B enclose the sides of the corridor. Belowthe roof structure 12, conduits 6 carry the power cable from theuninterrupted power supply (UPS) units to the power distribution units(PDU) and then to each room, e.g. rooms 4 and 5, for powering lightingand critical load including servers, routes, etc., where the servers inracks 7 (FIG. 2) and other electronic equipment are placed.

The AHU 8A, FIG. 1A, is located below the conduit 6. The AHU 8A abutscorridor wall 3A, and supplies cool air to the room 5 through the supplyair grill 9. The return air transfer grill 10 permits air to return fromroom 5 to the AHU 8A. The ceiling tile and grid system 11 along with thewalls 3A and 3B, the corridor 1, the space below the AHU and the spacebetween the fan coil units (FCU) create a return air space which isrequired for the cooling unit.

The cooling capacity of the AHU is determined by the size of the motorand fan, the cooling capacity of the coils, and the volume of air thatcan be returned to the AHU. The volume of air that can be returned tothe FCU is determined as shown in FIG. 3A by calculating the volume ofair available in the space between the bottom of the structure and thetop of ceiling tile and grid system 11 and the width of the space, fromcenter to center, between the air handling units.

The condensate drain 55 is located at the bottom of the corridor. Thecondensate drain drains any water that gets into the corridor. There isa small space 56 between the corridor walls and the raised floor toallow for any water that gets into the corridor to drain.

FIGS. 4A, 4B show a vertical section and a plan view section,respectively, of a corridor 6 feet wide and approximately 8 feet or morehigh from the ceiling grid 11 to the floor 17. A four ton FCU 8A islocated between the power conduits 6 and the ceiling tile and gridsystem 11. There are six racks 16 in room 4 in FIGS. 2, 4A, 4B and 5.Typically, each rack, in this example, requires 20 amps at 120 volts(120V×20 A=2400 watts=2.4 KVA) (1 ton=12,000 BTU) (heat of 1 KVA=3416BTU) (2.4 KVA requires 8116 BTU). One ton of cooling will therefore cool1½ racks.

Therefore, the six racks at 20 amps per rack in room 4 each require fourtons of cooling. The FCU in FIG. 1A is a four ton unit. This unit is 48½inches on the side and 24 inches across the front (the supply registerside).

Two of these units are shown in FIG. 5, designated for room 4 and two ofthese units are shown designated for room 5. Rooms 4 and 5 each haveavailable two, four ton units for a total of eight tons. This equates tofull redundancy if each rack is using only 20 amps at 120 volts. If eachrack is using 40 amps then in the event of a failure of one of the AHUs,a fast recovery is necessary.

The components in an AHU are a motor 86 connected to a fan 82 and acooling coil 80. These components have a low failure rate and can bequickly replaced if the unit has valves for the quick removal of thecooling coil and replacement parts for the motor. Extra fans and coolingcoils are kept on hand. In addition, monitoring of the temperature inthe room and monitoring of the other parts should alert personnel toprojected failure to minimize the impact of such a failure.

FIG. 5 shows a top view of the AHUs assigned to rooms 4, 5, 6 and 7. Thearrows show the direction of the air through the units. If each of theunits is four tons then eight tons are assigned to each room.

The rooms can be subdivided by a wall 71 into two rooms, e.g., see FIG.5, rooms 7A and 7B. In that case, each room could have either one ortwo, four ton AHUs. If each room is not so subdivided, shown to beapproximately 10 feet×16 feet (including partitions) and if subdividedthe two rooms would each be approximately 5 feet×16 feet and each roomcould have assigned to it one, four ton AHU. FIG. 5 shows that whenrooms 4 and 6 are combined by removal of wall 72, sixteen racks areplaced in the space (an increase of four racks).

As shown in FIG. 5, room 5 has six racks. Two KVAs can be supplied toeach rack with one four ton AHU. With two, four ton units to each room,10 feet×16 feet four KVAs can be supplied to each rack or the second twoton unit can be used to supply A.C. “back up” for the room.

The building is surrounded by bollards 50 at a standoff distance of aminimum of 90 feet from the building. Examples of bollards 50 are shownon one side of the building only in FIG. 5. It is understood that thebollards 50 would surround the building.

The bollards are built to the highest Department of Defense (DOD)standard. At that standoff distance, the buildings will withstand ablast from 1000 pounds of TNT on a 5000 pound truck moving at 50 milesper hour. The brick exterior of the building is backed up by 12 inchreinforced concrete masonry unit (CMU) with grout in the CMU cavities.The interior walls of the rooms are built of 8 inch and 12 inch CMUswhich are reinforced with steel bars and the CMU cavities are filledwith grout. The mezzanine deck 12 is built of steel and concrete so thatthe interior of the building is protected against blast.

The building is built in a highly secure manner. This physical securityprovides security to the AHU, the power distribution units, theuninterruptible power supply, the batteries, the switch gear, thecomputers, routers and other electronic equipment, the powerdistribution system, the fiber distribution system, the copperdistribution system (for data), the chilled water supply and returnpipes, the fire suppression system and all the other equipment protectedby the walls and roof of the building.

The system disclosed herein is appropriate for a building designed andbuilt to the concept disclosed for a building converted to a datacenter. For instance, a building with an interior space 22 feet inheight can have an additional mezzanine floor added to accommodate thetanks for a fire suppression system and the electrical and fiberdistribution system described herein.

In an existing building, preferably, existing or new construction wouldhave a roof sloping at a 2% grade to help carry off rainwater. Themezzanine deck may be built parallel to the existing roof (i.e., thesame slope) approximately 5 feet below the existing roof and can bebuilt of steel and concrete (a composite deck). Twelve inch steelreinforced concrete masonry units can be added to the inside of thebuilding perimeter and shear walls can also be built of twelve inch CMU.The bollards, the secondary roof, the exterior walls and the shear wallswill protect the building against the blast described above.

The rooms for the servers may also be built of reinforced CMU. This willgive the equipment in these rooms further protection against a satchelcharge in the interior or near the exterior of the building. Theconcrete slab of the existing building can be cut and a trench built sothat the chilled water pipes and fiber optic could be installed.

The cylinders for the gas fire suppression may be placed on thesecondary roof directly above the rooms that will receive the gas in theevent of a fire or in the trench below the raised floor as shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B. In either case, the gas will be confined to the roomfor which it is designated which gives additional protection againstputting too much gas into the room.

The chilled water supply pipes are designed so that valves may be closedwhich prevent water from flowing through them. The water can be drainedfrom them and then a leak can be repaired. When these valves are closed,other valves can be opened which are connected to a “back up” supplyline as shown in FIG. 6 so that the air handling unit still receiveschilled water. A similar piping system would be used for the returnchilled water system. The same back-up pipe can be used for both thereturn and supply chilled water system if similar valves are closed andopened.

FIG. 6 which shows 14 inch chilled water supply 100 and return 102 fromthe pump room 104. 4 inch chilled water supply 106 and return 108 linesare then connected to the 14 inch chilled water lines to serve rooms 4,5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. An additional 4 inch pipe 110 is placed in eachcorridor to take the place of any section which is closed off by valvesso that section can be repaired. See valves V in FIG. 6.

The preferred configuration of this data center design will provide that(1) the electrical distribution to the racks and PDU rooms will belocated between the AHU 8A and the mezzanine deck 12 and above themezzanine deck 12, in a secured steel tray attached to the deck with aspace for the flow of water if there is a leak in the primary roof. (2)The fire suppression system will be provided by INNERGIN™ gas located incylinders located above the mezzanine deck and above the space beingprotected. (3) The chilled water supply and return pipes will be locatedin the corridors below the raised floor in a trench 5 with a drainbeneath these pipes and a water tight separation to the adjacent rooms.(4) Racks located in a small room will receive conditioned air from anAHU in the corridor. (5) Rack in large rooms with a heavy A.C. load willhave the AHU on a raised floor with the supply air moving under theraised floor to the racks. (6) The bollards, the walls of the buildingand the shear walls and the mezzanine deck and the primary roofstructure will provide protection against blast to the highestDepartment of Defense standards.

The chilled water pipes, fiber and electrical conduit can be located ina trench in the corridor and the top of the raised floor 13 can be levelwith the concrete slab 60 adjacent to the corridor (see FIG. 1A). In thealternative, FIG. 1C, the space 15, can be located between the walls 3Aand 3B, the raised floor 13 and the slab 60. In that case, the raisedfloor 13, would be located on each side of the corridor walls. In thatcase, the rooms on each side of the corridor would have raised floorsand the supply ducts 73 shown in FIG. 2 would have a vertical section sothat the supply air would be extended down in the corner of the room sothat the supply air would pressurize the space below the raised floor,and the cold air could then be supplied below the racks 7 in FIG. 2.

There is sufficient space above the mezzanine that the fiber optic linescan be laid out so that they do not cross the power distribution lines.The power lines which are intended to be dropped through the mezzaninedeck to the cage below would be located at the front of the cage and thefiber lines would be located at the rear of the cages.

Some other advantages of the design are:

-   -   1. The electric power and the fiber are kept more than the        required distance apart.    -   2. The fiber and low voltage copper data lines are located in a        secure space below the raised floor, or above the mezzanine        deck. In either case, it can be secured in a steel tray with a        locking device and a monitoring device for surveillance.    -   3. The fan coil units do not require room floor space. This        raises the efficiency of the use of the floor area of the        building.    -   4. In addition to providing security against blast, the        secondary roof provides redundancy with respect to protection        from roof leaks and an excellent place to run additional fiber        and power.    -   5. A normal duct system in the corridors which are then        connected to the rooms can be tapped so that conversations in        the rooms could be heard by those not intended to be privy to        such conversations. The chilled water system described herein is        not subject to such intrusion.    -   6. This design is intended to meet federal security (SCIF)        requirements.

The foregoing description should be considered as illustrative only ofthe principles of the invention. Since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and, accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of theinvention.

1. A data center comprising: a building, an explosion protection system surrounding the building, a primary roof of the building, a secondary roof inside the building forming a mezzanine deck, said mezzanine deck being located below said primary-roof and spanning an interior of the building, an air handling unit located below said mezzanine deck and above a floor of the building, and a distribution system for water and communication lines being located below the floor of the building.
 2. The data center as claimed in claim 1, wherein the building includes a plurality of rooms interconnected by a corridor.
 3. The data center as claimed in claim 2, wherein the distribution system is located below the corridor.
 4. The data center as claimed in claim 3, wherein a ceiling of the corridor defines a space located below the mezzanine deck, the air handling unit is located in the space.
 5. The data center as claimed in claim 2, wherein a plurality of air handling units are connected to each of the rooms to provide at least two times of air cooling capacity to each of the rooms in the event of failure of one of the air handling units.
 6. The data center as claimed in claim 1, wherein the explosion protection system includes a plurality of bollards surrounding the building.
 7. The data center as claimed in claim 1, wherein condensate from the air handling unit is communicated to the distribution system.
 8. The data center as claimed in claim 1, wherein the distribution system further includes a five suppression system.
 9. The data center as claimed in claim 1, wherein the distribution system further includes a chilled water supply line and a chilled water return line.
 10. The data center as claimed in claim 9, wherein the chilled water supply line and the chilled water return line are connected by valves to a bypass water line for use in the event of maintenance or failure of one of the chilled water supply line and the chilled water return line. 